By Toyin Falola

From October 2nd to 5th, 2024, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will gather several of the country’s best minds in Abuja to search for “a new path to development.” I am glad to have been invited to this intellectual gathering. I look forward to listening to the Keynote Speaker, General Ishola Williams (rtd.), a thinker far more prolific and influential than me. My contribution to the three-day event will be how existing theories fail to explain the Nigerian situation.

In a three-part series, I intend to review the role of ASUU in moving the country forward. The intention is to focus on what ASUU does best by providing policy papers on several issues to transform Nigeria. What the public knows is what ASUU grudgingly does: strike declarations. Many will disagree with this statement since the public is unaware of its conferences and policy recommendations. The bad news travels much faster than the good news. To put this significant conference in context, I will review ASUU’s history and contributions, which are always buried below the radar because of the over-emphasis on strikes. Of course, I will not brush aside the criticisms of the union which I spell out in this foundational piece.

He who pays the piper, says the sages, dictates the tune. Though I think they rightly say it, that is as ordinary as it gets. The piper may well suffer a constrained application of his talents were he to forever hearken to the whims of his payer or be forced to submit to odd inconveniences to his detriment. For the latter reason, the contemporary concepts of unionization and collective bargaining exist. The logic is straightforward – the payer should indeed dictate, but only reasonably and humanely for the piper. This, brethren, is at the heart of the work of ASUU and other labour unions.

First established as the National Association of University Teachers in 1965, during the days of the country’s first-generation universities, ASUU started as a much more temperate organization. Its history of radicalism, however, began in the late 1970s when sundry issues of employee welfare and underwhelming national political leadership forced it to recognize a need for an extensive shift in its orientation. Marking its new approach was a name change to the Academic Staff Union of Universities and agenda-setting for developing Nigeria’s education sector during successive governments.

Since the change in its posture, ASUU has been up against determined foes expressed through an underfunded sector and deteriorating working conditions. To make matters worse, it is perpetually up against a government that fails to fulfil its commitments and resorts to disingenuous plans to arm-twist the union. For these reasons, the word ‘ASUU’ is synonymous with nothing but strike action in the consciousness of the average Nigerian. Over time, one might even argue that members of the public have come to believe that the business of the lecturers has been primarily self-centred, more likely to spill into public awareness when issues such as pay, or staff welfare come up. This is evidenced by a pattern of burying hatchets following financial compensation from the government.

In recent years, the union has attempted to reconcile its demands with the desire of parents and students who seek a hitch-free education completion. By couching its core welfare goals within objectives such as increased funding for tertiary institutions, ASUU has targeted the sympathies of other stakeholders. Whether or not it can sustain itself for long is a different question, as the self-interested purposes frequently eclipse its supposed activism. Still, it would be unfair to conform entirely to this position. After all, unions are created for specific ends and would not serve their purposes if they do not pursue them unrelentingly. Yet, we must remember a sector’s social and economic significance, such as education.

Nelson Mandela rightly construes education as the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world, as neither planes nor multi-carriage highways are as transformational as an institution that prioritizes the mindset of people. In a country like ours, this change can never be overemphasized. This leads us to a dilemma. If the union has a strict obligation to seek its constituents’ interests first, where lies the line between this and safeguarding the sacredness of our tertiary institutions? Which interest comes first? The union’s or the country’s intellectual future?

To put this in a better context, the issues raised by ASUU since 2009 must revolve around implementing funding commitments to education, including earned academic allowances and budgetary increases for the sector. They further extend to issues around IPPIS, rapid, unchecked establishment of new institutions by state governments, staff victimization and unjust terminations, among others. On the other hand, the union’s actions fundamentally detail the career aspirations of young people in universities, forcing them to spend years above their original study period in universities. Compared to peers overseas, Nigerian students are condemned to seemingly endless waits, causing them to expend much longer durations on pursuing degrees. Interestingly, what is noticeable on these sides of the divide is the intersection of some pain points with the needs of students. It is naturally expected that increased funding to institutions will mitigate challenges such as dilapidated facilities, poor accommodation, and all-round underwhelming teaching standards in universities. That outcome acquires greater importance when the average budgetary spend on education in Nigeria, transfixed stubbornly at less than ten per cent, is compared to other African countries with even lower financial bandwidth.

A standardization problem equally arises with the growth of multiple institutions established by state governments who are more concerned about being seen as acting than genuine action. Both areas of agitation eventually aim to improve the quality of education for the citizenry. Notably, the same factors that vent the union’s agitations have also occasioned an exodus of lecturers from Nigeria. In search of pastures where their efforts are better praised and rewarded, lecturers and students flock to foreign institutions in droves. The effect is inevitably a drain on the intellectual resources available for national use and exportation to climes already enjoying a developmental advantage. Annually, global university rankings showcase the underdog status of Nigeria’s institutions with the sprinkle of local schools that barely cling to spots in the top 1000. There is little else that one needs to diagnose an absence of vision in the country’s leadership.
To the posers I raised earlier, the appropriate answer seems to me to be that we ask a single question, not two when we question the loyalties of the academic staff.

The preceding information informs us that their welfare is as much as theirs, as is the quality of knowledge impartation we muster. Still, I must also add that this view is only possible if ASUU refuses the allure of a narrow-minded perspective. What could this possibly mean? It implies that the union cannot sufficiently claim to be one for all, if the easiest way to alleviate it is through salary payments. It might as well confess to pretexts of activism, then. It must be, and I understand how demanding this must be of a single union amid many envisioning its employment conditions as the same to upscale Nigeria’s education.

This leads me to another issue. If ASUU brands itself as determined to catalyze national development through action in the education sector, what visions does it nourish for executing this? More specifically, where does the union stand on student loans and the commercialization of education in general? By this token, might we associate the union with ownership from an ideological standpoint? If so, what is it? The debates here are sure to be myriad, if not never-ending. It is simply not too much to demand that institutions of learning receive proper investment if the political climate were one that nurses a figment of concern for the country’s future. So far, it appears ASUU is vehemently opposed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) concept. It argues that it is a diversion strategy to corral money into private universities run by political cronies while denying much-needed funds to the public. Whether the argument is correct is a truth that only time will reveal; however, the legitimacy of ASUU as an appropriate advocate, to some people, has been in doubt. The National Association of Nigerian Students, who operate the latter end of stakeholders in university classrooms, has lashed out at the lecturers for their stance on loans. To them, contesting a system that could relieve struggling students and guarantee access to education is inconsiderate. The rebuttal sounds good, but NANS has been an organization that has been in doubt for years now. It has lost its consciousness as a student representative body and now thrives on its subordination to the political leadership for relevance. For NANS, an organization whose members sling guns at polls and curry favours from high-ranking politicians in return for unabashed praise singing, the best they can be awarded is a consideration worth a thimble of salt.

Bring on the various arguments, for or against ASUU, to Abuja, Idris Abdulkadir Auditorium, National Universities Commission, 25 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama District, Garki.

By Toyin Falola

As the sailor of time paddles away

The soft and heavy breeze from the running tides

The whistling of the deep

And the splashes of the bow’s piecing of the sea

Unwinding the past from their echoes.

My gentle wrinkles

And the grey hair transformed into scalps

Tell gentle stories of aspirations

Scholarship, compassion, disappointments

Accomplishments and a free, unbroken circle of life.

As we journey through the circle

And our boats cruise the tides

We hold the hands of the little

Through our stories of the past

To see the sight ahead from our lantern.

We must age while they grow

That the circle should not break

That the chorus of our victories retort

That our faces may see intimate joy

And our compassions renewed.

I held Dolapo, Bisola, and Toyin’s hands

While they leapt in unqualified gladness

With inquisitions so unimaginable and unending

And laughs, bright and electrifying

As we created memories that never fade.

In Sade, Ola, Tunde, and Funmi’s restive joys

I saw life circle recreating itself

Drawing back to the old days of climbing mango trees

And the night folktales and playground under the full moon

They were our CocoMelon and Paw Patrol.

We watched Bisola grow

Fluttering her wings to fly through the complexity of the world

While we guided her through the hurdles

Telling her to hold all victories to heart and not to pride

We aged while we watched her grow.

We would call Dolapo to “The Study.”

For corrections, motivation, and refocusing

We saw his spirit lifted

His resilience and strength became a forging force

And we aged while he grew.

We have seen Toyin’s resoluteness, passion, and convictions

With satisfying amazement

We have witnessed her excellent muse

Pushing her to the echelons of success

We have aged while she grew.

As our sailors paddle by

Through the breeze from the current wrinkles of our skin

We have transformed into a continuum

But beholders of the good ideals we passed

As we age while they grow.

From time immemorial, the roots of society have been built on the strength and bonds of family, serving as the first ideological bloc for every human and the foundation on which values are built. As such, the family teaches us about life and its expectations. Often, true comfort in life is not in the victories, the achievements and the positivity it throws at one. Otherwise, one would feel hopeless and struggle when their opposites plague one’s way. However, joy comes from the embrace of family, the assurance of comfort, and even the attendant drama. Family injects the nodes of meaning into life itself.

Life is a circle, with change as a constant variable that carries us through insights, experiences, and even turmoil. As we age, the passage of time becomes more apparent, and we begin to accept what we have and have not. However, the glancing of the young ones growing within the folds of family shows that life is a continuum of the journey we embarked on, though their routes and destinations may differ.

The wrinkles on our skin and the folds of our cheeks come with an immense understanding of life’s complexities and loads of wisdom born from the lessons experience has written on our slates. As the young grow, we codify these experiences and knowledge into manuals so that when they return from the playgrounds, they sit at our feet to learn as pupils of the family. We warn them blazingly of the emptiness of otiose aspirations, the nothingness of distraction, the wickedness of selfishness, the art and act of comradeship, and the beauty of having a good heart. We pass on the lessons life has taught us so that they will not have to journey far to learn them.

The beauty of ageing lies in the opportunity to watch others grow – the transition from infancy to childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, as well as the maturity that comes with chapters of accomplishments and milestones. Ageing reenacts reverberating memories of the potential of life itself and the transformative realities embedded in it. The beauty of ageing is found in watching as the energies of the young turn to inspiration and in their gradual strides as they walk the path of life itself.

Our children, grandchildren, wards, and all those within our circle of influence are the beholders of these legacies. Through the wisdom we impart and the authority we wield, we imprint these legacies in them. I am always gladdened at the sight of my grandchildren – Olamide, Olatunde, Sade, and Funmilayo – who take my mind off the worries of life and lift my spirit with the soothing sound of their endless questions, fun, and lively engagements. I cherish holding their little hands as I guide them to understand the treasured heritage of Africa, the dignity of being human, and the foundation for the future.

The legacy of ageing transcends wealth, accomplishments, or all the accolades accumulated through life’s journey. It is rooted in love and the nurtured confidence of the growing ones. If we do not age, they might not grow, for ageing comes with the fortification and strength we must pass on to them.

PS: This piece was written at midnight on July 4, 2024, while visiting Dolapo, his wife Corrina, and our two grandkids, Olamide and Olatunde.

By John Michael Ojo

The Nigerian army on Monday sent warnings to those who are bent on undermining the sovereignty of the nation by displaying Russian flag at the ongoing nationwide protest.

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa who stated this after a security council meeting with President Tinubu on Monday in Abuja, said such action was treasonable and punishable by death.

He said, “We have all seen foreign flags being flown within the sovereignty of Nigeria, which is totally unacceptable.

“We are issuing a clear warning, and the President has also instructed us to convey this: we will not tolerate anyone, any individual, flying a foreign flag in Nigeria.

“That is a treasonable offence, and it will be treated as such. No one should allow themselves to be used by any individual.”

“We wanted to brief Mr President on the situation on the ground, and we know that since the riots began, all the security agencies have been working together.

“Initially, when the riots started, they were described as peaceful, but we have realised that there are individuals who are willing to take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem.

“And we can clearly see what has happened since it began: criminals have taken over, with a lot of looting, stealing, and all sorts of criminal activities occurring,” he added.